The invention concerns a buggy comprising a frame with front and rear wheels, pull and push bar, and front wheel bars and rear wheel bars that support the front and rear wheels and that are connected to the pull and push bar, and a seat accommodated in the frame.
Such a buggy is generally known from practice. The purpose of the invention is to construct a buggy that is highly versatile in use and meets all the safety requirements that are made of buggies. These requirements of versatility in use and safety are at odds with one another. Increasing the versatility usually requires attention by the user for the way in which the buggy is used.
The invention aims to provide a buggy that is inherently safe, while still being extremely versatile in use. A further aim of the buggy according to the invention is its drastic simplification. This is achieved with the buggy according to the invention in that the buggy is provided on either side with a coupling device for the rotatable connection of the pull and push bar and the front wheel and rear wheel bars, this coupling device being equipped for the detachable fitting of the seat.
In a certain aspect of the invention the buggy has been designed so that it essentially has two positions for use, in a first position the front and rear wheels being placed apart and in a second position the front and rear wheels being placed close together. This latter position is also called the wheelbarrow position.
The versatility of the buggy according to the invention manifests itself in that in the first position for use the seat can be fitted in two ways, firstly by the seat being fined facing the front and secondly by the seat being fitted facing the rear.
For safety reasons the buggy is preferably made so that in the second position for use the seat can only be fitted with its back towards the front and rear wheels.
An advantageous form of construction of the buggy according to the invention is characterized by the coupling device being made up of interconnected rotatable discs that are connected as the case may be to the pull and push bar and the front and rear wheel bars, in the first and the second positions for use the said discs forming at least one recess that is suitable for taking a projection that is provided on the seat. One of the effects this has is that by fitting the seat the projection slots into a recess formed by the discs and the discs are secured against mutual rotation. A further effect is that the frame is only collapsible when the seat has been removed. This of course serves safety.
It is preferable that in the first position for use two recesses are formed that are suitable for taking the projection and that in the second position for use one recess is formed that is located in such a way that the seat can only be fitted with its back towards the front and rear wheels. On the one hand this meets the wish to provide a buggy with great versatility and on the other the requirement to make the buggy completely safe to use in spite of this versatility. In the second position for use in particular, in other words the wheelbarrow position, there could be a risk in the user losing contact with the pull and push bar. In this case the seat is fitted in such a way that it will land on the ground safely and with a low drop height.
It is also desirable that the coupling device and the seat are equipped with a male and female connection. This guarantees a simple and secure fitting of the seat in the frame.
It is also preferable that the seat is provided on either side with a lockable hinge and that effectuation of the male and female connection makes the hinge adjustable to a predetermined number of selected intermediate positions. In this way the seat can be set to the desired position in the frame, white, if the seat is used separately from the frame, the hinge is released for rotation so that it can be positioned in such a way that a safe placement of the seat on the ground is provided. This is achieved in the form of construction that is characterized by the hinge being connected to a part of the male and female connection that in a first positron of the hinge essentially runs diagonally in relation to the back of the seat and extends beyond the back of the seat. In a second position of the hinge this part essentially runs parallel to the back of the seat. If the male and female connection is broken, the hinge can be rotated between the first position and the second position.
The construction is preferably such that effectuation of the male and female connection adjusts a pawl incorporated into the hinge of the seat which releases the hinge for rotation.